Welcome to the Just Plain Folks forums! You are currently viewing our forums as a Guest which gives you limited access to most of our discussions and to other features.

By joining our free community you will have access to post and respond to topics, communicate privately with our users (PM), respond to polls, upload content, and access many other features. Registration is fast, simple, and absolutely free; so please join our community today!

Doesn't bother me,i already have the best music made in my vinyl collection as far as i'm concerned.I'll never stream my music.You can't beat putting on an album on a vintage stereo,kick back,enjoy reading the liner notes and lyrics [when available] and digging on the cool artwork on the cover while playing your favorite jams.

Yep, they ruined an art form when they went away from LP's. I've been holding off producing another set of songs because I feel that CD's are out of date and thumb drives are soon to be. Looks like it may be the cloud.

Yep, they ruined an art form when they went away from LP's. I've been holding off producing another set of songs because I feel that CD's are out of date and thumb drives are soon to be. Looks like it may be the cloud.

It's already an MP3 Music World. Ones & zeros rule the Earth. CD's? If you're a performing band with a following - maybe some CD's could be sold. LP's - only for the dinosaurs. Recording musicians must adapt or run for the hills.

Streaming, the Cloud, Memory Sticks, CD's, Records... wonder what will be next? Maybe a chip embedded somewhere in our bodies or brains? LOL! It isn't easy being a Dinosaur. I don't want to change and the CD is my method of choice. I like the size and it is so easy to make my own personal album. As many of you know, I'm fairly prolific and this method gives me the opportunity to be my own worst critic... and believe me, I know things were "over" for me... before I even got my "sea legs" in this crazy music world we can't seem to live without.

Best of luck to you Jody... and Mike, the LP Jacket was an artform to be cherished and perused while the turntable took us to a different world.

Vinyl outsells CD's I have heard. I never cared for CD's really, depending on a computer to record music was never my preferred choice. I thought Cassettes were the easiest and cheapest. (I remember when blank CDR's cost 10 bucks a piece IF you could even get them). All the technology is mostly about when you came of age and what was common and affordable at the time. Vinyl was always the most difficult format as recording your own took a lot of gear and cost. The easiest was Cassette when the cheap 4 track recorders were the rage. That was my era. Now the cloud (hard drives and passe now as well) is how everyone does things and there will be tech eventually that WILL be connected to your body in some way, it seems inevitable. And there will be tech we can't comprehend coming over the next decades. I hope we livelong enough to enjoy some of it!

WRT the Adobe products..... I use Lightroom and Photoshop Elements (a simplified version). Both are stand alone on my computer.Most of my photographer friends have switched to the subscription versions which are about $10/month for everything. That's a pretty cheap price compared to buying the full versions and having to replace them every so often. I am resisting more from the standpoint that I don't want to have to relearn Photoshop (which is an extremely complex program) at this point. But support of the stand alone version is going away so I will probably be forced to switch, which is no doubt part of the Adobe strategy.

Technology is in the process of devaluing almost all forms of creativity because it enables almost everyone to participate to the point that we are all overwhelmed by the volume of choices. Whether you are a musician, photographer, artist, writer, journalist, newsman, videographer, etc., you are basically not going to get paid much for your work, if anything. The quantity available far exceeds the demand. Whatever it is though is going to be delivered the cheapest way possible - which is of course the cloud since there is nothing physical involved except your computer or phone. You'll be going to a library with nothing but monitors and Kindles, to an art gallery with nothing but art displayed on monitors, going to a music venue to see DJs streaming music from the cloud! All these things are already happening........

Humm, It appears a lot of younger people want Vinyl Records and the Catalog Companies are offering a few both on CD and Vinyl. You can get practically anything that was recorded now on CD. You can buy practically any Movie ever made now on DVD. A lot of old songs I wanted I have found, in a Catalog, on CD. You can buy Turntables brand new. And so it goes.

Vinyl has made a comeback, and CD's far from being long gone, will be around for a while. Artists will always need SOME physical product for point of sale. Some artists have gone to thumb drives or download cards, you pretty much have to do everything if you are wanting to participate in this.

Vinyl, while being very cool, and selling more, is really still more for audiophiles, and collectors than it ever will be mainstream again. Too much "rack space" for retail, and frankly too heavy and expensive to be mainstream. If you are an artist, sweating to deal with your gear, driving around in small vehicles due to dealing with higher fuel costs, carrying around an extra hundred pounds of records around, is not that economical. And you can't do inexpensive short runs on records. Still got to have a lot of those suckers to get prices reasonable.

So, they are very cool and yes, there is nothing like having a nice piece of vinyl, and the lyrics and fold outs in your hand. Gives people a "connection" the artist unlike anything else. But there are inhibiting factor.

I wouldn't look for them to make a "complete comeback" that's not going to happen, but they will be around. Nashville has expanded it's pressing plants and a lot of artists are doing them just to "have that old album" that they grew up with. Very cool.

This might be a quick, but interesting read about the status quo of the music industry.

tl;dr: "Meanwhile, vinyl remains robust but stunted. Thanks to legacy manufacturing issues, vinyl production is severely stunted at this stage. Even major labels are suffering manufacturing delays, and some plants are outright turning down orders from indies and unsigned artists."

This might be a quick, but interesting read about the status quo of the music industry.

tl;dr: "Meanwhile, vinyl remains robust but stunted. Thanks to legacy manufacturing issues, vinyl production is severely stunted at this stage. Even major labels are suffering manufacturing delays, and some plants are outright turning down orders from indies and unsigned artists."

Yeah, I think the Vinyl thing is a long time niche which has become a wider fad, but will pass back into niche status as kids move on to the next shiny new thing. VR is going to be a big push, imagine being able to walk into your favorite band on stage and start jamming with them in 360 degrees. As AI improves and really gets into music making, imagine the interactivity you could have with an AI band which jam WITH you, follow what you do, where you can talk to and instruct them just as you might fellow garage band members in the old days. Stuff like that and far far beyond is coming. In fact, should any of us live 50 years from now, I suspect you'll be essentially immortal by then, though I can see that first only being available to the chosen people and kept from the masses due to over population. Politicians, Stars, Athletes and those with wealth will be the first immortals and will likely rule over the world in ways both amazing and terrifying. I'd like to see that future, but not sure I would like to live in it. (And in my case, I will be happy/lucky to make it out of my 50's).

Nostalgia will keep all formats alive in little niche collectives which I predict will be the next stage of social media, ways for every imaginable little interest (as well as any type of music you can make) finding even a handful of fanatical followers who will use the available tools to find each other and live virtually sharing interests no matter how mundane or fantastical.

. In fact, should any of us live 50 years from now, I suspect you'll be essentially immortal by then, though I can see that first only being available to the chosen people and kept from the masses due to over population. Politicians, Stars, Athletes and those with wealth will be the first immortals and will likely rule over the world in ways both amazing and terrifying. I'd like to see that future, but not sure I would like to live in it. (And in my case, I will be happy/lucky to make it out of my 50's).

.

Brian

I suspect you will be right about being immortal but it will have nothing to do with AI and the choice will have nothing to do with your social status, it will be God's choice, those that lived for Him and chose Jesus Christ as Saviour . Those will live on in immortal bodies.

Couldn't agree more Brian. No doubt Vinyl is and always will be a niche product, currently an in-demand niche product nevertheless. It's funny how they're trying to scale a sound storage device which as been around since the late 1800s but kill off more modern solutions which all were "the next big thing" at some point in time.

I'm not sure about the ability to becoming immortal in 50 years (I guess I would have a shot at actually seeing the world you described) but you're absolutely right, VR but even more so AR and AI will be huge for the music industry... Before yet again the latest "next big thing" comes along.

My vinyl collection is in pristine condition. The majority of my albums were played once and recorded to cassettes, then put away. I was reluctant to get into CD's because of planned obsolescence. I retired from the automotive industry so I thought I knew a lot about that. My entire music collection is about 200 LP's, 300cassettes, 80 CD's and right now 15 thumb drives. Almost forgot the SD cards that I have 8 of. My point being, these are things that I can hold in my hand. In the cloud, I can't touch anything. I suppose I would, theoretically, have access to lots more stuff. I'm guessing its time to enter the fog.

Well, a lot depends on whether you prefer to listen to your existing catalog, or to keep finding new music, or at least wider arrays of the stuff you liked from earlier in your life. If THAT is the case, then one of the subscription plans may make sense if you spend 120 bucks a year on music, it's a bargain because you get the largest possible music collection for 10 bucks a month. We have a family plan for 15 a month so we can all get whatever music we want whenever we want. I wish more JPF members were on Spotify, only about 75% actually are. Sure, it's pennies for most, but may as well have it available for the fans you have to make it convenient, especially any release more than a year old. Sure, it could bite into your gig sales (if there are gigs or sales) but most people buy CD's more as a souvenir anyway. I almost always bought something other than music at shows I went to, as those were unique items I connected with the live show versus recordings I could get elsewhere, but I know some artists still make some money that way. For most, put it up on line and let fans find it, and then find your fans on your youtube channel, or your own site to monetize them. We're in a post music sales era. Maybe it will come back around, but I doubt it.

Well, There is an Article in the July/August issue of Popular Mechanics about Jack White of White Stripes, in Detroit setting up his own Vinyl Pressing Plant. The whole shooting Match. He basically says he doesn't like CD's, that Records sound better. Not sure that is true anymore but It appears Vinyl isn't dead just yet.

Well, There is an Article in the July/August issue of Popular Mechanics about Jack White of White Stripes, in Detroit setting up his own Vinyl Pressing Plant. The whole shooting Match. He basically says he doesn't like CD's, that Records sound better. Not sure that is true anymore but It appears Vinyl isn't dead just yet.

Well, if you don't mind the scrachin' noise. Though there's an old-time jukebox at one of the eateries here. Plays old 45's. There is some depth missing in today's recording. Probably would be considered a substandard mix today.